Monthly Archives: January 2015

Effective September 1st 2008 Polycom will be raising prices across the board on all Audio and Video conferencing equipment. Polycom is adjusting prices due to macro-economic factors including rapidly increasing costs of gas and oil and a general increase in the costs of materials required to manufacture and deliver their products. In general the price increase will be 3%, with some products and/or services going higher. Order now and beat the increase!

If you are looking to purchase New Polycom products in the near future, please do so by August 31 as that is the last day we will be able to honor any outstanding quotes. Call us at 800-335-0229 and save on all video conferencing and audio conferencing products before the price increase.

Telcom & Data is pleased to announce it’s Green Office area on it’s corporate web site This part of our site is designed to provide you with the latest technology to help your office lower its carbon footprint, save money, retain and hire better people as well as saving time. Lowering you office’s carbon footprint not only makes sense for the environment, but it also makes perfect business sense. All of the Green Technologies in this area are proven to work, and are being used by thousands of companies worldwide, including here at Telcom & Data. I am passionate about these products because they make such a huge difference, not only on our environment but also in our lives. I am dedicated to helping you reap the incredible benefits of these technologies.

To learn more how your company can benefit from Green Office click here: http://www.telcom-data.com/going-green.aspx

Telcom & Data Inc. is now offering the new Forum Communications Confer SE audio conference bridges. The Confer SE provides big conferencing features on an affordable platform. Lowering conferencing costs makes a lot of sense these days and having a system that delivers meet me conferencing and management features is key.

The Forum Confer SE is an analog bridge that comes in 3 different configurations including 8, 16, and 24 ports with an optional T1 integration available. Previous systems manufactured by Forum Communications include Confer II, Confer III and Consortium. Users of the older Confer II system are upgrading to the Confer SE to take advantage of the easy analog migration. The Confer SE is designed to work on most Digital, Analog, Hybrid or IP phone systems. The powerful feature set includes:
Built-in web server view status and configure with your browser
View names of attendees
Drop, mute, and unmute control feature
View voice activity/mute status
View log all conference room activity through your browser
19 " Rack mountable
Optional T1 Interface
Companies installing a conference bridge can usually see an ROI in only a few months.
For more information on Forum Confer SE audio conference bridges call 800-335-0229

Plantronics has announced the latest Polycom Electronic Hookswitch Adapter (EHS). The Plantronics Polycom EHS now supports the SoundPoint IP 320*, 330*, 430, 550, 560, 650, and 670 model phones. These phones require a firmware update from Polycom to support the Plantronics Polycom EHS. Please contact Polycom for availability information. The Plantronics Polycom EHS works with the following Plantronics wireless headsets: CS55, CS70N, SupraPlus Wireless and Voyager 510S. With the new Plantronics Polycom EHS, you will experience the following benefits when using Plantronics wireless headsets:
Always be aware of incoming calls, even when away from your desk, with the headset ring alert.
Freedom to move around the office and accept and end calls from wherever you are with your wireless headset call control button.
Direct connection to your Polycom SoundPoint IP phone, which eliminates the need for a mechanical handset lifter device.
*The 320 and 330 require a 2.5mm to RJ-9 adapter, which is available from Polycom.
The new Polycom Electronic Hookswitch Adapter (EHS) (APP-5) (part number 38438-01) will be orderable as of August 15, 2008 and shippable as of September 1, 2008 Call toll free to advance order 800-335-0229

Telcom & Data announces the sale of the new XOP Networks IP Teleconferencing system to AT&T. AT&T the world’s largest communications holding company with over 71.4 million customers and a 2007 Performa Revenue of 170 Billion Dollars selected the XOP Networks Conferencing Bridge to provide conferencing for their Mobility Switching Operation in California.

XOP Networks designs and manufactures next generation conferencing solutions for small, medium and large enterprise and service provider customers - worldwide. Our products support Audio Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Enhanced Firebar, Mass Notification, Switch Announcements and Voicemail services. All of these services are accessible over legacy TDM and next generation VoIP networks. Our products find their use in many verticals including manufacturing plants, oil and gas, homeland security, local city and county governments, utilities, education and entertainment.

For more information on how your company can reduce conferenicg costs with an inhouse XOP Networks Teleconferencing System Call Telcom & Data at 800-335-0229.

Tortel USA announces purchase of Citel Technologies
Tortel USA announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the business and assets of Citel, The VoIP Migration Company, and will operate under the name Citel Technologies Inc. Under this agreement the new company, a corporation headquartered in Amherst, NY, will continue to develop, manufacture, sell and support Citel’s award-winning Portico Telephone VoIP Adapter (TVA) that enables enterprises to quickly migrate enterprises to VoIP without the need to purchase expensive new VoIP handsets and wiring infrastructure. The company will continue to offer full sales and support of the Citel/MCK EXTender product suite, one that enables enterprises to extend the functionality of a corporate PBX to remote offices and home-based workers, as well as other legacy products.

How To Create a Virtual Office

It has become a growing trend for businesses to look for alternatives to the standard office setup, especially for those companies which are just starting out and are looking for ways to reduce their startup costs. One of the more popular alternatives of recent years is the virtual office, which allows individuals to work from home while conducting a large part of their business over the telephone or online. If you or you’re the owner of your business are interested in learning more about virtual offices, what advantages they have over standard physical office space, and how you can set up a virtual office at home, then please take the time to consider the following information.

About Virtual Offices

A virtual office, as you might gather from the name, is one that does not exist in a physical location but instead is a combination of the work that one or more individuals does at home as well as interfacing via telephone and internet with others in other locations. A virtual office can help you and other employees to coordinate and work as a team while still giving each the freedom to work from their own chosen environment. By choosing to create a virtual office for you and your coworkers, each of you can find a greater degree of personal freedom in your work while still working toward common business goals as members of an overall team.

Virtual Office Advantages

There are a number of advantages that should be considered when deciding to use a virtual office as the means for your company to thrive and do business. In addition to the greater amount of personal freedom which is granted by a virtual office, you may also find that there is an increase in individual productivity because each office member is able to work according to their own biological schedule and therefore is able to do the majority of their work during the time of the day or the night when they would normally be most active and alert. Choosing to create a virtual office setting can also save money for all involved, as they will not require a daily commute in order to get to and from work and will also be free to have lunch or breaks with foods that they have around the house instead of having to purchase their meals from restaurants or cafeterias. Physical and mental health can also reflect the benefits of using a virtual office, as individuals who choose this sort of work environment tend to get more exercise and suffer from less work-related stress than those who work in office buildings.

Establishing a Virtual Office

In order to create the virtual office that you desire, you and all members of your staff are going to need to have some basic pieces of equipment. A computer of some sort is a must, and it should have enough storage, memory, and processing power to run common applications which would be used in your line of work. Other essentials include a cellular or home telephone, access to copying and fax services, and a mailing address for any correspondence which will be sent to the company (in most cases a post office box is sufficient.) It is also highly recommended that you create a website for your company to serve as an internet storefront, since potential customers will need something to base their decisions to work with your company on.

Once you have the equipment that you need and have established your web presence, make sure that you have taken care of any last-minute paperwork including securing business licenses and tax identification numbers as needed. Make sure that you have received any inspections that may be required for your specific type of business and that all of the proper paperwork for operating a business in your area has been filled out. You should now be ready to begin your business.

There are many benefits of creating your own virtual office. Learn how you can take action to implement this process while continuing business as usual. Visit our premiere website at

With record oil costs and summer right around the corner the cost of gasoline is not going to be coming down any time soon. Business are being hit by the record high costs while trying to remain competitive and not passing costs on their customers.
VoIP Technology is an excellent way to fight back at the pump and an excellent investment for your economy stimulus check.

How can VoIP technology reduce your fuel costs? Start by working at home one or more days a week. Let’s face it, many employees can do the same work from home as they can at the office. If your work is done on the phone or from the PC you are a prime candidate to work from home. Working from home can greatly reduce your fuel costs. . At Telcom & Data at least half of our employees work from and it works out great. The company benefits from less wear and tear on personal and company vehicles, parking costs, and less fuel consumption. Combine savings with more family time for employees and you have a win, win, win scenario.

“My Phone System Doesn’t Support VoIP.”

Yes it does. In fact we can bolt on VoIP to ANY phone system no matter the age or manufacturer. MultiTech a manufacturer of modems also provides VoIP gateways that can connect VoIP extensions to your existing phone system through either spare analog or spare trunk ports. Of course with any VoIP solution, telecommuters will still need high speed internet access from home. But connectivity is easy and cheap. The cost for a single telecommuter or remote office is only a few hundred dollars.

The best reason to offer telecommuting is to attract and retain talent. Ask any employee what's important to them and the answer will be family. Telecommuting allows employees to spend more time with the family. Spending more family time provides employees with a better and less stressed life style. A happy employee is going to stay longer and be more productive. Offering telecommuting even on a part time basis can have a huge impact.

For More information on reducing your fuel costs call Telcom & Data at 800-335-0229

If you are an owner of the AT&T, Lucent or Avaya manufactured Merlin Legend Phone System chances are you have or will be experiencing a voice mail outage. Voice Mail failure is to be expected just as with any other computer failure. The system contains a hard drive that is constantly running. Eventually all moving parts crash and the Merlin Legend Mail, Merlin Messaging, or Intuity Audix voice mail systems are no exception.

What to do if your voice mail system fails?

If your auto attendant is programmed to answer all calls you will want to call your vendor to change programming so calls can be answered the old fashion way.
The next thing is to get a replacement voice mail system. There are a couple of options.
1. Purchase a refurbished replacement system.
2. Purchase a new Windows based PC voice mail system.
3. Have the system repaired. (Takes about a week.)
3. Purchase more post it notes for manual message taking.

Purchasing a refurbished replacement voice mail system is easy and inexpensive but you might want to ask your self how long you plan on keeping the phone system. If you are going to hold on to it making an additional investment in outdated technology might be OK. The replacement voice mail system is a proprietary system manufactured specifically for your phone system.

Purchasing a new PC based system would add additional features and allow you to re-use the voice mail system should you decide to upgrade the phone system in the near future.
PC based voice mail systems such as DuVoice provide not only sophisticated messaging but also unified messaging features so voice mail and fax messages are sent to your email. Voice mail messages can be played back from your PC speakers as a .wav file and fax messages are viewed as a .tif file.

Telcom & Data provides service technicians as well as new and refurbished voice mail system options.

You can call them at 800-335-0229

Analog to Digital Phone Converters What Are They and Do I Need One?

Analog telephones and telephone devices have been around for a long time and even with the inception of VoIP and software based replacements for some of these devices demand for analog modems, credit card readers, fax machines and conference speaker phones remains high and not likely to fade soon.

Many PBX, Key Systems and IP based phone system manufacturers offer analog connectivity to their phone systems but many do not, and even still, adding a single port of analog connectivity can be expensive.

A Digital to Analog Converter can be your answer. Digital to Analog Converters such as the KONEXX converter offers an inexpensive conversion for all analog type of devices. Connecting an analog device to your phone system using a converter such as the Konexx Converter is easy and you don’t have to call your tech in to connect it for you. Digital Converters like the Konexx easily connect to the digital telephone handset. Settings can be changed on the converter to best match the impedance of your specific phone system. Connecting an analog adapter takes less then 5 minutes.

Digital to Analog Converter can be used for all types of analog devices including, Polycom SoundStation2, VTX 1000, Conference Phones, fax machines, analog modems, credit card readers as well as analog and cordless analog phones.

Fore more information on Digital to Analog Converters call 800-335-0229.

From the Desk of Ricardo Trinidad